The Hobbits Are Coming

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Sierra announces a long-term deal for Tolkien games.

By IGN Staff

Today Vivendi Universal Publishing and Tolkien Enterprises announced a extensive deal to publish games based on the J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings across multiple platforms. Sierra Studios has secured an eight-year deal for the rights to publish games based on the Tolkien mythos over multiple platforms, including the PC -- although we haven't heard of a definite PC title yet.

The first title that we know about will be based on The Fellowship of the Ring and be coded by Seattle-based WXP Inc, a developer who has previously done work for NVIDIA - the same company who is providing the graphics chip to the Xbox. Fellowship will appear on an unnamed next-generation console, and be released in early 2002.

"The Tolkien license, combined with our development, marketing and distribution strengths, are truly a formidable combination," said Agn¿s Touraine, Vice Chairman & CEO, Vivendi Universal Publishing. "It will reinforce our leading position in the games market, enlarging our offer to customers."

"The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings properties are the pre-eminent fantasy works of our time and represent one of the strongest brands in the entertainment industry," said Hubert Joly, CEO, Vivendi Universal Games. "They provide a tremendous amount of rich material from which we expect to make some of the best fantasy games ever created."

"We plan to release titles on all major gaming platforms in order to make the interactive versions of Tolkien's great works available to as many gamers as possible," continued Joly.

"The world of Middle-Earth will come to life in Sierra's upcoming games," said Laurie Battle, Director of Licensing for Tolkien Enterprises. "This relationship will allow us to reach out to a new audience which may never have experienced the magical realm that J.R.R. Tolkien created in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In addition, people who are already fans of the books will now have the opportunity to step into the shoes of their favorite characters and explore the lands that they have imagined."

With The Fellowship of the Ring hitting theaters worldwide this December, Tolkien fever will be at a boiling point, which makes the timing of these games spot on. More information on all of the titles will be released at E3 in the next couple weeks.